New Zealand Keeps Borders Closed In 2021 - No 'one size fits all' solution.

 

• Jacinda Ardern says mass immunisation will not begin until midyear
• uncertainty over Covid-19 vaccines, PM Jacinda Ardern 
• unable to say when Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will arrive 
• mass immunisation will not begin until midyear 
• we will be in the hands of pharmaceutical companies schedules

NEW ZEALAND border closed through most of 2021 

expect our borders to be impacted for much of this year
the world simply too great a risk to our health and economy 
NZ's success got economy moving sooner than expected
but closed border decimating tourism industry
Ardern pessimistic on safe travel zone with Australia 

• taking "conservative" approach to letting foreigners into the country 
• For travel to restart we need two things she said
• We need confidence vaccine means you don't pass Covid-19 to others 
• we need enough of our population to be vaccinated 
• Both possibilities will take some time

– BLOOMBERG

My comments :  New Zealand is the last stop before the South Pole. They are isolated. It is a small country. Their population is 4.8 million people and 27 million sheep. They are more likely to catch a sheep than to catch the virus.

Tourism is very big business in New Zealand. Their GDP is around US$270b+ and tourism contributed a whopping (close to) 6% of GDP. The New Zealand economy is suffering very greatly

Yet the very popular Prime Minister Jacinda Arden (she just won a re-election) has decided to shut the country's borders to foreigners into 2021.

Their vaccine program will not begin until mid-year. What? 

They should just contact India.

No two countries in the world can have the exact same measures to fight the spread of the corona virus. There is no one size fits all solution.

In the USA the number of cases has gone beyond 25 million and is still increasing. In the UK too the numbers are still high (over 20,000 new cases per day!!)

The most urgent isuue now is getting the vaccines rolled out YESTERDAY.

Last year there were no vaccines available. This year there are so many countries and pharmaceutical companies rolling out corona vaccines.

Caution is needed but there are other factors that can cause unnecessary delays which should not cause those unnecessary delays.

That will be the commercial and political factors. The commercial factors will be the price offered by the suppliers and willing to be paid by the buyers for the vaccines. 

Malaysia has to be double quick on this. Just know that suddenly there are now many suppliers around the world.  Do not overlook the Indian vaccine suppliers. They are of good quality and very competitive prices.

Untuk makluman tuan-tuan yang kurang faham, Mat Salleh pun ada yang manufacture vaccine mereka di India.    

Then there is the issue of who will get the 'AP' to import the vaccine.  In our country this is a political decision. Not a market decision. 

There is a plus and minus to this. 
The minus is there will be more costs. 
The plus is it can be done in double quick time. 

We need the vaccines asap.  

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.